Gardaí are investigating 200 reports involving content on the social media platform X that is allegedly child sexual abuse material, an Oireachtas committee has heard.
On Wednesday, the Joint Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport heard from representatives from An Garda Síochána, the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, Media Literacy Ireland and Hope and Courage Collective to discuss the regulation of online platforms and supports to improve online safety and participation.
It emerged over the last number of weeks that Grok, the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot that is based on the social network X, had been generating illegal images at the request of users. This included child sex abuse material and non-consensual intimate images of women, which were created using a feature which allows people to be “undressed”.
Det Chief Supt Barry Walsh told the committee that as of Wednesday morning, gardaí were investigating 200 reports involving content that is child sexual abuse material or child sexual abuse indicative material.
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He confirmed that all reports being investigated are images distributed X and related to Grok, the platform’s AI tool.
“We have received reports and referrals of content on that particular platform [X] that is under investigation,” he said.
[ AI Minister to seek legal advice on Government response to Grok appOpens in new window ]
“The investigation process takes some time, the content has to be assessed to make sure it’s criminal, and thereafter the people responsible have to be identified, if that’s possible, and the investigative action stems from there.
“So what follows is the investigative process, and that may result in various different actions, such as execution of warrants, interview people responsible, interview being brought before the court or for direction from the Director of Public Prosecutions.”
He also said that the Garda has not seen “any lack of legislation ... to deal with issues that are arising.”
He also said that there is a year-on-year increase in this type of crime.
Last year, he said that there were about 25,500 referrals that required consideration for suspicious activity in Ireland, an increase from around 13,300 referrals in 2024.
He said he wanted to reassure the public that reports are being “treated with utmost seriousness”.
He also said that while recent comments had focused “on one AI model in particular,” it is “a conceptual possibility” that other AI models could be trained to create such content.
Det Chief Supt Walsh said he is “not aware of” any prosecution in the Republic of Ireland, of any “vessel” that has facilitated the distribution of such imagery online.
